Neighborly Neighbors: Rafael and Alfred, Hairdressers for the Brooklynettes

Neighborly Neighbors is a series of posts in which we stop random people, ask them a few random questions, take their picture and post the results here.

Rafael Nieves and Alfred Tom
Ages 43 and 42
Partners Rafael Nieves and Alfred Tom have lived in Fort Greene for 10 years. We met up with them in their salon in Brooklyn Heights, which they opened three years ago.

What do you like about Fort Greene?

Rafael: I love the multi-culture of Fort Greene. Families, singles, black, Latino, Asians and they all integrate in one neighborhood.

What changes have you seen in the neighborhood?

Rafael: The park as it’s cleaned up. Now you see people playing tennis, strollers.

Alfred: It used to be you couldn’t use it before.

Rafael: Now it’s like, family concerts.

Alfred: There’s a greenmarket there. All of those high-rise buildings. They didn’t have a lot of residential buildings when we moved here. We’ve started seeing a lot more filming in Fort Greene and in Brooklyn.

Rafael: It’s getting more desirable for people to move to Brooklyn.

How did you become the hairdressers for the Brooklynettes?

Alfred: Through word of mouth, which is often how it works in our business. Their make-up artist recommended us to the entertainment director.

Rafael: She asked us to do their hair while they were choosing dancers last year.

Alfred: After that the entertainment director asked us to do the hair for the ‘Nettes. We’ve been building a relationship with them. We were there yesterday at the auditions and she was asking us, “What do you think? Do you think you could do something with their hair?” We’ve become their hair partner.

Do you do their hair on game days?

Alfred: We train them how to do their hair for games. For photo shoots and appearances, we’ll come in and do their hair. Once we give them the foundation – the styling, the color – it’s very easy to teach them how to do their hair. Without that foundation, it’s harder.

Rafael: They’re really fun to work with.

Alfred: Yes, there is no pretension at all. Many of them are going to school full-time, most, if not all of them have professional jobs. They train three times a week, dancing. They’re always running around.

How did you get started cutting hair?

Rafael: I worked at a salon in Manhattan, before I managed a McDonalds. I always wanted to do hair. When I went to beauty school, they asked me what I wanted to do with beauty school and I said I wanted to own my own business. Four years after I got my license, we opened this place.

Alfred: I was in banking for about 18 years. When we started the business, we decided it was best for me to also get a license. I actually got a lot of compliments in beauty school, like “You have a real talent for this.” I had a successful career in banking but especially when the recession hit and everyone started hating the banking industry, myself included, I saw a future doing hair. It just happened, how life worked out.

What’s the best thing about cutting hair?

Rafael: Meeting people, talking to them, finding out what they  like and do. This is a career of psychology too, people have problems, you become friends with them.

Alfred: I worked in client services in banking. I liked that aspect of the job but I apply a lot of that here. The hair part, I stand all day. I like that better than sitting at a desk. I do love working with people. We can sometimes help them achieve an outward appearance that fits who they are.